Sick Day
by lesbianpapyrus
Summary: (Underswap AU) Sans takes care of his big brother when he becomes ill.


"PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPS! BROTHER, IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!"

Papyrus only opened his eyes a little, barely registering his brother's voice.

He should have known something was up at dinner last night when his stomach had gotten upset after eating—skeletons rarely got upset stomachs, since they didn't really _have_ stomachs.

And he'd also had that weird cough for a couple of days—Sans had put it down to his smoking, but Papyrus didn't know why he would suddenly have coughing fits when he'd been smoking for years with no problem.

He should have known then.

But it was only now, when he was waking up feeling completely and utterly miserable, that he realized he was really sick.

The realization passed as quickly as it had come. He was so sleepy… why had he woken up again? He closed his eyes and tried to slip back into his dreamworld.

"PAPYRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS! WE HAVE SENTRY DUTY! WE CAN'T BE LATE!"

Oh, right. That was why.

"Coming," he tried to reply, but his voice only came out as a croak. His throat felt like it was on fire. _Geez, this set on fast,_ he thought.

He made a big mistake in lifting up his head and untangling himself from his cocoon of blankets. His headache must have been the size of New Home, and he must have had a bad fever, because his tank top and boxer shorts were no match at all against the cold that attacked his limbs.

Papyrus wiped his forehead with the back of his hand; it came away damp with sweat. He definitely had a fever then.

There was no way he could work like this.

He hugged himself and curled up on the edge of his bed, willing himself to get up.

He was startled by a loud knock on his bedroom door. "PAPYRUS! Don't make me call you again!" Sans yelled angrily as he barged right on in. "You know we can't be late for—" He broke off as he took in the sight of Papyrus's flushed face and clear distress, and his entire demeanor changed. "Oh, no!" he cried in concern. "You're ill!"

"I'm fine," Papyrus tried to say, only to give a deep, wet-sounding cough instead. He felt tears brimming in his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this awful, at least physically.

Sans immediately took charge of the situation. "Alright. You stay here. I need to do something important, and then I'm gonna get you downstairs, okay?"

Papyrus tried to protest, but Sans was already gone. After a minute, he could vaguely hear his brother's voice downstairs, but couldn't tell who he was talking to. He found he didn't really care, either. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep.

A few minutes later, Sans was rousing him back up. "Come on, let's get you downstairs so I can keep an eye on you," he urged.

Papyrus stood shakily. His vision suddenly went black and he felt so dizzy that he fell forward into Sans' arms.

"Wow! Okay, you can't even walk. Geez, Paps, how long have you been like this? You should have said something," scolded Sans. "Well, I guess there's only one thing to do." He picked up Papyrus, one arm supporting his back and the other under his knees. "Ugh, you're heavy. How am I gonna get you downstairs?"

"Don't care. Just do… just do whatever," whispered Papyrus wearily.

Sans sighed. "Alright. I hate doing this, but we'll probably fall otherwise."

For a split second, the air felt very cold and tight, and then the brothers were in their living room.

Papyrus blinked. "Did you just—?"

"Yes, I just used a shortcut. But only because it was safest, so don't be teasing me about it!" Sans cut him off. "And hush up. You're gonna ruin your voice more."

Sans heaved his big brother onto the couch and watched as Papyrus immediately started to curl in on himself. "Hold on! I'll get your blankets!"

Sans used more shortcuts to retrieve Papyrus's blankets from his bed and wrapped them tightly around his sick brother. Then he tucked a couch pillow under his head. "There! Now I'm going to put on your favorite show and make you some plain soup to warm you up, okay?" Sans turned the television on to one of Napstabot's shows.

Papyrus grinned despite himself. "That's one of _your_ favorite shows, Sans," he whispered.

"Well, it's the only one on right now. You just watch it while I cook."

Twenty minutes later, Sans had to wake Papyrus to sit him up and help him eat. Papyrus swallowed a few sips before deciding his stomach couldn't take any more, so Sans saved the rest and made sure his brother was warm and cozy in his blankets again. Then he sat on the floor in front of the couch to watch Napstabot's show while still paying attention to any noise Papyrus made.

"You can go to work, Sans. I'm just gonna sleep…" Papyrus broke down into a cough.

"I called Alphys and said we couldn't come in because you're sick and I'm taking care of you," said Sans simply.

Papyrus was surprised. No, shocked—Sans hadn't missed a single day of work since he had become a sentry. "But… your work is so important to you…"

"Yeah, but you're my brother! You're _way_ more important than any ol' sentry job!" Sans looked back at Papyrus with his starry eyes. "You don't have to worry about a thing, brother. I'll take care of you until you're completely better. Then we'll talk about repaying me."

Papyrus chuckled, but his laughs quickly dissolved into more coughs.

"I'm kidding! Don't choke," Sans begged anxiously, and Papyrus realized just how worried Sans was about him.

"Don't you worry either, bro," he murmured. "I'll get better."

"I really hope so… your HP is so low, I think that's why your illness appears to be so bad. That's why we have to work to get it up!" Sans suddenly looked determined. "If you get your HP up, sickness won't affect you so bad."

Papyrus was already falling asleep again. "Alright, bro…"

Sans sighed and tucked the blankets in further. "Alphys is coming to check on us later. And I called Undyne to come take a look at you tonight, when she's done working. She might be able to give us a potion or something to help you get better faster. But for now, she said the best thing is sleep."

"Good thing I'm the Number One Sleeping Champion of Snowdin, then…"

"There is no such thing. Now stop talking and go to sleep."

"Okay."

"I said stop talking."

"Okay."

" _PAPYRUS!"_

"Sorry."

Sans huffed with impatience. "Will you be quiet if I read you a story?"

Papyrus was silent for once. Then, "Actually… that would be really nice."

"Okay. Do you want the puzzles book or _Hide-and-Seek with Sunny Fox?"_

"I like the last one."

"Okay, hold on a minute."

Despite his condition, Papyrus felt warm and safe listening to his brother's voice as he was read to.

He fell deeply asleep before the story was even finished, his last thought being that he was sure to feel better soon with such a wonderful brother taking care of him.

 **oooooooooo**

A/N: this was the last request I received on Tumblr! this one was from my brother, who usually beta reads my stuff before I post it! so you have him to thank for a lot of the stuff I write!

hope you enjoyed!


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